Apatite solid support surfaces, including hydroxyapatite, ceramic apatite, fluorapatite, and fluoride enhanced apatite, among other apatite solid surfaces, are used for purification of a wide variety of target analytes. Apatite is most commonly utilized for purification of biological analytes, including proteins, carbohydrates, polynucleotides, and viral particles. Apatite possesses unique properties as a purification support because it provides affinity, ion exchange and/or hydrophobic interaction modalities in a single support.
Apatite restoration methods restore loss of mass after an apatite purification procedure. Loss of mass can, however, occur prior to an apatite purification procedure, i.e., during hydration of the dry apatite resin, column packing and prior to loading of the sample.